Making friends in real life is easy. Tell them they look cute and they smell amazing and whoa that is a great idea you just had, and you’ve got their undying adoration for the rest of your conversation. Trust me. They’ll be back for more.

But online, it’s a bit trickier. You don’t see them at the coffee shop, you can’t run into them at Nordstrom, and you definitely do not show up uninvited to their kid’s fourth birthday party. Not cool. Never cool.

So how do you find your people? How do you build an audience of friends who not only want to hear what you’ve got to say, they also come back for more?

Find them. Identify the most popular sites and social media presences in your specific industry and set up Google Alerts to lead you to relevant conversations in real time. You can also set up alerts to learn what your competitors are doing.

Learn what subjects are creating conversations. Perhaps even more importantly, identify the areas that aren’t of interest to anyone.

Analyze your traffic. Google Analytics shows you where your visitors were before they got to you, and this insider information can show you where to increase your presence. If 25% of your audience is coming from referrals from a certain site, it may be worth it to increase your presence in some way on that site, either by purchasing ad space or contributing to their blog.

Don’t forget your real-life customers. They’re right there in front of you. Ask them where they hang out online, the sites they love, and what they’d like to see more of in their searches for information.

And remember: Your social media success is highly dependent on the social aspect of your presence. You wouldn’t expect to make friends at the coffee shop without extending yourself a little, would you? Tell them they look cute. Start a conversation and stick with it to the end. And hopefully, it never ends.

Call us at The Found Gen if you’d like even more ways to find your people. Heck, we’ve got about ten right here in our office.